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He goes in tomorrow or Tuesday to have the stitches out and I'll get some detail then on the lump. It will be time for a long walk in the park with him then -- he's only had short local walks even in all this nice weather we've been having.

I forgot to update after going to the vet -- he got his stitches out and is a lot happier! Basically it was a benign basal skin cell tumour. They can grow very fast and sometimes they then disappear of their own accord -- the vet says around 4-5 is the age when some dogs startto get them. Because of the location on Jaspar's toe, he says it was good to have seen it early and removed it as these tumours account for a lot of toe amputations. If they don;t vanish on their own, and get too big, the toe has to come off as there's no skin there to cover the area where the tumour would be removed.

So it was a relief all around. I rewarded him with a long walk in the park.

Recent Health Issues - Stones, Arthritis and now a possible tumour!

My 5 year old cavalier, Ruby, has been having a bad time lately. She had stones in her bladder in july and then last week she was yelping and
xrays have shown that she has arthritis in her back. She is on medication and seems to be returning to her usual self but
then last night i noticed a blister like growth between her nails. The vet said today it is a tumour but she is going to wait until next week to remove it!
So upset now - just wonder if anyone has had a cavalier with these problems and what I'm looking at over the next while.
Thanks
Eimear

Can't say anything about stones and tumours, but my Oliver has spondylosis (osteo-arthritis of the spine), which may be what your Ruby has. When it first flared up (aged 8, he was put on Metacam for pain and had about 4 weeks crate rest. For the next 3 years he was fine and had no medication for it - I was just careful not to let him climb steep stairs, and he didn't want to jump. I also got some steps to help him up onto the settee. Earlier this year he started getting stiff when he had been sleeping, and a bit wobbly when he got up, but it was difficult to know whether this was his spondylosis or his SM. Since the stiffness has responded well to a painkiller, we're assuming it's his spondylosis. But on the whole the arthritis doesn't affect him very much - he can still walk several miles and trot around off lead. Putting him on the painkiller (Carprieve, a milder version of Rimadyl) has really helped, as he trots much more freely now (I'd got used to him pacing, as that seemed more comfortable, and suddenly he started trotting properly again, which was great).

Bladder stones can be related to diet so worth reading up on options for feeding. One of mine had a little growth between his toes -- a minor surgery to remove; my vets noted it could possibly go on its own; but if it didn't, because of the location it was better to remove it right away as there's so little skin to work with -- any larger and the toe would need removal.

Disk disease/spinal problems are unfortunately, one of the more common health issues in the breed. Hopefully painkiller will manage it but always wise to give fish oils generally and they may help a bit. As Kate notes -- there are many types of arthritis, some more serious than others -- did they give you any more detail than this?

The other key health issues that will affect most cavaliers to some degree are mitral valve disease (heart murmur/failure -- nearly 100% of cavaliers will eventually have it) and the neurological condition syringomyelia (also sadly too common, with studies indicating about 70% will have it eventually). Many dogs will never have serious problems because of these conditions, but every cavalier owner needs to be aware of them. If Ruby continues to have pain, be sure your vet is aware of syringomyelia (SM) in the breed as this will not show up in xrays but symptoms include spinal pain unexpected yelping, frequent scratching, sensitivity to touch, etc (not all dogs will have all or even more than one symptom but they are common in other conditions too, making it hard to diagnose without an MRI). She could have spinal arthritis but also have SM and pain will likely be harder to manage if it is SM, so just something to file away for reference. There's info in the Library section of the Health forum on these conditions.